Nuclear matters

The New START has been signed in Prague on 8 April 2010. There is a diagram here of the proposed reductions.

Good:


Bad:
-the treaty does not limit any current or planned U.S. missile defenses, also noted here and here and here.
-The treaty doesn't call for the destruction of one single warhead; excess warheads are simply stored and, theoretically, could be redeployed.


Other implications:
-Some have argued that new START will increase pressure on Iran because it shows that Russia and the US are united and Russia will go along the international community; also it shows that now Iran can't pretend it is unfair to ask them to come clean since the superpowers have shown they are dedicated to eliminating their arsenals.
This is not a very good argument but it will be made in the mainstream.




Also, a new Nuclear Posture Review has been adopted by the Obama administration.

Key clauses:
-"The United States will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations."
Basically the US reserves the right of using nuclear weapons against Iran. A good analysis of the NPR is here and another one is here.

In other words, the NPR says that while the primary purpose of America’s nuclear arsenal is to deter nuclear use against the United States and its allies, deterrence is not its only purpose. More specifically, the Administration will reserve the prerogative for the United States to use nuclear weapons first, at its discretion, against non-nuclear-weapons states that are not, in Washington’s view, in full compliance with their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Bad:
-No pledge of "no first use"
-Keeps targeting Iran and NK with nuclear weapons.
-Keeps about 200 tactical nuclear weapons in 5 European countries.


a 10 percent increase in the administration’s funding request for nuclear weapons infrastructure modernization

Two good articles are here and here.